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Tytos Lannister
Lord Tytos Lannister was the Lord of Casterly Rock and head of House Lannister. He was the grandfather of Cersei, Jaime, and Tyrion Lannister. Biography Background Tytos was once Lord of Casterly Rock and head of House Lannister, one of the Great Houses of Westeros. The Lannisters are the richest and one of the most influential families in Westeros. He was the father of Tywin Lannister and Kevan Lannister, and grandfather of Cersei, Jaime, Tyrion, and LancelHBO viewers guide, season 2 guide to houses, House Lannister entry. Lord Tytos raised the kennelmaster of Casterly Rock to knighthood after the latter saved him from a lioness that tried to kill him. He also granted him lands, a keep, and the kennelmaster's son was taken as a squire. Thus House Clegane was born."House Clegane" Tytos presided over a period of decline for the House. He frittered away much of their fortune on poor investments and allowed himself to be mocked at court creating a perception of weakness. This reputation led the Lannister vassals of House Reyne of Castamere to eventually rise in rebellion. Tytos' successor, Tywin, put down the rebellion personally, extinguishing their house and re-establishing the fearsome reputation of House Lannister. His ruthlessness gave darker meaning to the common phrase "A Lannister always pays his debts" and was immortalized in the song "The Rains of Castamere"."House Lannister" Season 1 When arriving at his father's encampment with a number of hill tribe leaders, Tyrion Lannister introduces his father to them, calling him "Tywin, son of Tytos"."The Pointy End" Season 2 At Harrenhal, Tywin recalls watching Tytos growing old to his cupbearer. Tywin believes that his father loved him and was a good man but weak. He blames Tytos for endangering their house and name."The Old Gods and the New" Family tree In the books In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Lord Tytos was called a kind but weak man. He loaned money to lords who never bothered to repay him and his vassals openly ignored his orders, mocking him in open court. This made his son Tywin mistrust laughter, and become a hard and cold man. Tytos's father was Gerold the Golden, who appears in the Tales of Dunk and Egg prequel novellas set 90 years before the events of the main series. His mother was Rohanne Webber, the Lady of Coldmoat and a prominent character in the novella The Sworn Sword. Gerold and Rohanne had at least four sons together: the twins Tywald and Tion, then Tytos, then Jason. As a third son, Tytos was not initially expected to rule, but both of his older brothers died without issue while their father was still alive, meaning that Tytos directly succeeded Gerold. Tywald died in the same battle against an outlaw lord in which King Maekar Targaryen died. He had been betrothed to Ellyn Reyne, so to maintain the alliance she was married to Tion. For a time Ellyn dominated Casterly Rock, but their marriage proved childless, and Tion later died in the Fourth Blackfyre Rebellion. After Ellyn's failed attempt to seduce Tytos was reported to him by Tytos's wife Jeyne, Gerold rid the castle of Ellyn by marrying her off to old lord Walderan Tarbeck - but she then proceeded to have numerous children by him. Tytos himself had married Jeyne Marbrand, and there came to be a bitter rivalry between the two women due to Ellyn's attempt to seduce her husband. Ellyn Tarbeck named her children after dead Lannister relatives, to spite them. Tytos and Jeyne had four sons: Tywin, Kevan, Tygett, and Gerion, as well as one daughter, Genna. Jeyne died only one month after giving birth to Gerion. Jason, meanwhile, was married off to Marla Prester, by whom he had five children, including Stafford and Joanna. Tywin would later marry Joanna, his own first cousin, and she bore him Cersei, Jaime, and Tyrion. Tytos's daughter Genna states that growing up as a younger son made Tytos eager to please those around him, particularly men who were older than him. Tytos was even eager for the acceptance of older men who were his own vassals, or minor vassals of other Houses. Tytos agreed to marry Genna to Walder Frey's son Emmon, who was his second son and thus not even his heir, simply to please Lord Frey. Despite being only ten years old, Tywin was the only one who spoke out against this, pointing out how drastically uneven the match was. Even if Walder had offered his eldest son and heir in marriage, it would still have been marrying beneath Genna's station, as the Freys were only vassals of House Tully, not another Great House like the Lannisters. Years later when Tywin came to rule House Lannister, he became insulted at the prospect of Cersei settling for anything less than a royal marriage. According to Kevan, Lord Tytos allowed his mistress - a woman scarcely one step above a whore - to move into their castle after his wife's death, act as if she was mistress of the Rock, demanded and wore his late wife's jewels, and even spoke for Tytos when he was sick. She grew so influential that it was said in Lannisport that any man who wished for his petition to be heard should kneel before her, for Tytos's ears were between her legs. After Tytos died of a heart attack while climbing upstairs to see her, Tywin sent her naked and penniless out the front gate. For further humiliation, she was forced to walk naked through the streets of Lannisport for two weeks, and to confess to every man she met that she was a thief and a whore. Although no man laid a hand on her during this humiliation (as Tywin had threatened to punish any who physically harmed her), that was the end of her power. Cersei thinks about her grandfather's mistress, while she performs the same humiliating punishment. Though she had been too young to witness the spectacle herself, she had heard the stories from those who had been there: they spoke of how the woman had wept and begged, of the desperate way she clung to her garments when she was commanded to disrobe, of her futile efforts to cover her breasts and her sex with her hands as she hobbled barefoot and naked through the streets to exile. “Vain and proud she was, before,” Cersei remembered one guard saying, “so haughty you’d think she’d forgot she come from dirt. Once we got her clothes off her, though, she was just another whore". Kevan, too, recalls that spectacle, musing sadly that Tywin would never have dreamed that same fate awaited his own daughter. Tytos once imprisoned an unruly bannerman, Lord Tarbeck. Lady Ellyn Tarbeck responded by capturing three Lannisters, including Stafford, and demanded the release of her husband, otherwise the three hostages would be killed. Young Tywin suggested his father to oblige by sending back Lord Tarbeck in three pieces, but gentle Tytos complied to the threat and released the prisoner. Some time afterward, the Tarbecks joined with House Reyne in rebellion against House Lannister. Tytos was so indecisive that he would not grant Tywin leave to send their army against their rebellious vassals, but Tywin led out their army anyway in defiance of his father. In the end, Tywin annihilated both the Tarbecks and the Reynes. The extinction of House Reyne marked the first major step in the return to glory of House Lannister, in which Tywin almost single-handedly rebuilt the fortunes and strength of his House after the very weak position his father Tytos had left it in. See also * References de:Titos Lennister fr:Tytos Lannister pl:Tytos Lannister ru:Титос Ланнистер zh:泰陀斯·兰尼斯特 ro:Tytos Lannister pt-br:Tytos Lannister Category:Lords Category:Wardens Category:Lords Paramount Category:Nobility Tytos Category:Westermen Category:Members of House Lannister Category:Deceased individuals